Elder Tanner Smith - Ghana Accra Mission

This week went by super fast! Tuesday it was raining so hard that hardly anyone was around. We tried to meet with some of our investigators but they all canceled for another day. We also tried contacting, but when it rains here in Ghana people don't want to be seen. I nearly ruined my shoes because of all the mud! We ended with the day with 0 lessons which was frustrating especially since the next day we weren't able to spend any time in our area. All of our Tema zone, which is about 28 missionaries went to Tema to do a massive contacting activity. One of the wards there has been struggling and requested all the missionaries in the zone to come and contact in the area. It was a holiday and most everyone was home, so it was a perfect time to contact. We must have knocked on every door/gate within a 2-3 mile radius and in the end received almost 50 phone numbers for return appointments. The missionaries in that area sure have a large work load now!

This activity really made me want to push and to contact/tract more. As we all know or have heard tracting is not the most fun activity, but it can be rewarding. We focused on contacting and finding new investigators this week and ended up 12 new investigators. We're hoping that we can get them motivated about the gospel and hope that we can focus enough time for all of them. Our ward is trusting us more and more everyday. We also received 4 referrals this week! After the 6 baptisms we've had of recent it'll be dry for some time but we're hoping that we can get some baptisms for June.

My personal study this week was focused on The character of Christ. I wrote an email in the beginning of my mission when I was in the MTC about this talk given by Elder Bednar. I decided to go back and do my own study on the Character of Christ and how he always turned outward to serve people instead of turning inward to be selfish and prideful. I started to read about his crucifixion in Matthew and Luke and came across the scripture of Luke 23:34 which says ''34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” I was amazed that at this point of his agony, he was still pleading with his father to forgive those who were defiling him and those who hated him. I've been trying to make it a focus whenever I teach a lesson in Church for us to be more like Christ by helping the members know more about the way he acted. I pushed them this week to forgive those who despise them, forgive those who mock them, and do them wrong. You see a lot of less actives here in Ghana because of contention between members and if they just got over the pride they have then the ward would be so much stronger then it is now.

Hey Everyone! This week was awesome since we had 4 baptisms! They are all children of recent converts, but it was some of the most frustrating teaching we've had to do. As we all know children ask a lot of questions and don't like to pay attention, so it was a miracle we were able to teach them everything before their baptismal interview. At least I know now that they know more about the commandments then I did when I was their age.

The baptism didn't go as smoothly as we were hoping to. It was supposed to start at 10:00 am, but didn't start until Noon. This was mostly because our first counselor who was supposed to be presiding in the meeting was super late. We called him many times and each time he said he's almost there. Eventually we called the Bishop to receive permission to start without him and have our ward mission leader preside over the baptism. After that everything went well! My first convert in Batsonaa was able to baptize his children which was an awesome experience, and Elder Eli baptized the other two children. See all of the pictures below.

Mom was asking for a story of a missionary, recent convert, or member who had to give up a lot to be a part of the church. As I was trying to think of converts or members, a missionary came to mind above the rest. His name is Elder Fall and he is from Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is located directly above Ghana and is primarily a Islamic Country. Elder Fall grew up as a Muslim and was very dedicated in his religious practices. He moved to the country Benin (just to the West of Nigeria) to stay with his uncle while he went to University there. While he was attending University, Missionaries started to teach him and he decided that this is the true church and decided he wanted to be baptized. When he told his parents they were furious and told him that if he joined the church they would stop helping him pay for school and he wouldn't be welcome in their home anymore. He saw how important the church was for his salvation and decided to join despite his parents threats. One year after Joining the Church in Benin, he was endowed and submitted his missionary papers. He was called to serve in Ghana Accra and is now serving as a Zone Leader in Adenta Zone which is our biggest zone in the mission. He has one of the greatest testimonies I've ever heard and I know his name will be known throughout the church one day. His parents are now talking to him and accept him as being a Christian, but still aren't extremely happy about him leaving the Islamic religion. The hardest part about his story is that the Church is not in Burkino Faso yet so when he goes home there is no ward or branch to be apart of. If he chooses to attempt to go to church he'll have to travel to the very northern part of Ghana where there is a small branch. He is enthusiastic that soon they will call missionaries to serve there and open up a new branch and when that happens there isn't a doubt in my mind that he will do all that he can to progress the work there. No doubt he has fears that as he goes back he won't be able to visit the temple or go to church, but what is really important is that he know's the church is true and he is doing the Lord's work now to bring others unto his Gospel.

Mom in her letter mentioned the story of Alma and Amulek and part of Job. I've been studying a lot this week on the topic of why trials and affliction come to us and my favorite scripture that has come from it has been in D&C 121 it says: 7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. 9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands. 10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.

I love to read this section to struggling members because sometimes we forget that our trials are nothing if we look at the big picture. That God will exalt us on high if we keep the commandments and do not murmur. Elder Eyring gave an awesome talk a while ago about the Pavilion that Joseph Smith was talking about in verse 1 of that same section. I'd love if all of you could listen or read that talk if you are ever stressed out or feel like life is getting the better of you. The talk has brought me comfort in times of need.